The potluck. I decided to do a variation of Knock You Nekkid brownies. But I didn't have any wrapped caramels. So I got out a cookbook and decided to make caramel. (Because IAmWomanHearMeRoar)

I know it was not funny when it happened but I am sorry it is hilarious to read. That whole " Iamwomanhearmeroar" crap has gotten me into trouble more than once.

Love the expression Drama LLama. That is great. I have never heard it before. You definitely are not one. Like Helen said, we just care and don't want to stress you out. Cause I gotta tell you, trying to keep us under control is gonna be just like herding cats!

OH! Well FB, my family would gladly tell you OCD is what I have. My house has to be clean ALL THE TIME, dishes must be either in the dishwasher or cleaned and put away BEFORE I go anywhere or to bed at night. (I can't stand for my kitchen to be dirty! Big no no) Once I sweep, mop, dust and all that crap, I don't want anyone tracking it up again. Hubby always seems to find a way to do this. Needless to say I get really mad.I don't go messing up HIS space......which by the way is the outdoors! At least for the summer months.

Also Tracy, if we lived closer, I just took a blackberry pie from the oven about 2 hrs. ago you could gladly have for tomorrow.

There's another chapter in the caramel saga, but I'll spare you for now. If my feet stop hurting soon enough this evening I might try once more. But I have tomorrow morning and rhubarb in the freezer if it all goes south.

So, I pick up the mail on my way home - what do I find? A fat envelope from golo! :affraid: Holy smoke!

Oh thats too funny, you must have been totally boggled to think Golo had already made her blocks The look on your face must have been priceless, would have loved to have seen it

Sorry about your caramel, I think caramel is almost as bad as gumbo roux sauce, it can be overdone in an instant. I did like mamu's idea of carving the swap rules in the caramel slab though, very clever

Ummmm if you still have the rest of the brownie mix can you break it up and mix with some alcohol or cream and some dried fruit - cherries, ginger etc and turn it into little bonbons/truffles/chocolate balls perhaps? You could take a bowl of dipping sauce, raspberry sauce perhaps, make it into a yuppy dessert?

_________________"My will is mine.....I shall not make it soft for you" Aeschylus, Agamemnon

FB - I did not think you were being a drama llama, but I'm kinda glad you thought so. . . only because it made you use that expression. I love it! Drama llama has been officially added to my vocabulary.

Those who shared an opinion were for cutting off the sign up date and making oneblock for each swapper. I'd like to set the cut off at 31 August. Even when we get a new swapper on the 31st, we'll still have six weeks to build the blocks.--So, cut-off date 31 August, make one block (& 1 strip) for each participant.

Gimpy Cat, will you put a little scrolly-thing in the banner next week?

Is there anyone else who wants to hand-applique their blocks rather than fuse? We need to know before we start making trees, so speak up!

Gimpy Cat and Golo are having problems printing out the pdf I linked to, but they both have the original patterns. Some of you may have inadvertently printed out the pdf shapes at 'Fit to Page' or some other setting that would change the size of the shapes. I think that is a good thing. This is a whimsical pattern and slight differences in the sizes of the appliques will just add to the fun of the wonky trees.--Having said that, you don't have to do anything special to "make" your trees different sizes - just be aware that the blocks you receive will not all be uniform. And it's on purpose. Kinda.

Half of you probably already have my mailing address somewhere or other. I'll send my address to the entire list of swappers after we close sign-ups. If you want to send blocks sooner than the 31st, that's okay, just PM me for my address.

There was something else... Oh, well.

I still need to write up the finishing instructions for everyone. I haven't forgotten!